She Wolves of Olympic Pines
by gempire
Summary: This is the story of one of the descendants of Jake and Nessie finding a place in the world for her pack. Full summary inside to avoid spoilers of previous stories.


**Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer, my OCs belong to me.**

 **Summary: Magda Anna Black is the great granddaughter of Jake and Nessie. Like most hybrid wolves she has formed an alpha bond with six of her friends. Since forming a pack Mags and her pack have wanted to strike out on their own, exporting Quileute protection to other places. After an ill-fated attempt to join with Jane and the vampire guard in Wyoming Mags is looking closer to home. In Washington State, on the opposite side of the Olympics to La Push, is the foster home of Northern Heights where unwanted or mistreated dhampir are raised and schooled until they can face the human world alone. These are innocents who could use Quileute protection. Now Mags must find accommodation for her pack along with jobs in the nearby town of Olympic Pines that will be flexible enough in case of emergencies. Once settled can Mags and her pack of she-wolves live up to the reputation of Quileute Warriors through the ages?**

 **I'd like to dedicate this first chapter to Alphabloodwolf for helping me with the title.**

* * *

 **Magda**

It was nearing eleven as I drew near the turning for Olympic Pines, Washington State. It had been nearly two weeks since I'd seen my imprint Zeke and despite talking to him everyday, it wasn't in person and I missed that physical contact.

"Not long now." Amber said from the seat next to me.

Amber's the youngest of my pack and like me hadn't long found her imprint, and like me too, she hadn't seen him in two weeks. Unlike me she hadn't had much contact with him since her imprint, Brah was a newly rescued farmed dhampir and hadn't quite got the hang of communication technology yet.

"Nope." I agreed.

"I can almost feel him now. Is that like you and Zeke?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah." I confirmed. "It's like the pack call, only greater."

"Yeah." Amber said with a nod. "You think they know yet?"

"I haven't told them. Like I said back in Wyoming, I'll leave that up to you. But they won't pity you for not being able to see him you know?"

Amber shrugged.

"Well it shouldn't be long, hopefully we can sort something within the next two weeks, no longer than a month. I had hoped to get here sooner." I babbled a bit.

"We had to run." Amber said sadly.

"That we did." I agreed. "But I guess not having seen them in two weeks will make the reunion even sweeter."

"Yeah." Amber agreed. "Too bad it's eleven on a Friday, Zeke will be teaching right now."

"Well we need to unpack at Tregarran anyway, and with the possibility that Gramps will be making us lunch I think we can hold off a little longer on seeing the boys."

"That's a good point. And maybe freshening up a little won't hurt. I know the journey here from La Push is just about two hours, but a little freshen up never hurts."

"True." I agreed and tried not to sound like I was finding her fluster cute. Despite being sixteen this was the first time she'd had a serious boyfriend. Partly because she's shy but also because of the worry all us wolves have before we meet our imprint.

I pulled onto Olympic Drive, the road my grandparents lived on, that's who we were staying with since Zeke and Brah lived at the foster home. We were within comfortable running distance, well for us wolves it was a comfortable distance, from their home. A minuet later I was pulling onto the drive of Tregarran Hall, the name of my grandparents' house.

The drive was long and winding between pine trees and it was only when you came out at the end that the castle like manor house came into view.

"We're here." Amber said excitedly as I drove around the back of the house to the big basement level garage.

The garage door opened as we got near it and I knew it was Gran. She'd sensed our minds as soon as we were within a few miles of Tregarran. I pulled in, found that my usual spot was empty and parked up.

Me and Amber grabbed our bags and made our way up the steps to the ground floor because I could sense Gran was up in the informal sitting room. I led Amber there since she'd only been to Tregarran twice and it was a big house. Visitors had got lost in the past.

"Mags, so good to see you." Gran said, greeting me with a hug before moving on to Amber. "And you too Amber. Did you have good journey?"

"Yeah." I replied. "Hardly any traffic."

"Glad to hear." Gran said as the three of us sat down. "What plans do you have for the weekend?"

"Spend as much time with our imprints as possible." I replied.

"Well if you get bored of that you can always come running with me." Gran joked.

"We'll bear it in mind." I said with a smile.

"I let you both get settled in now. Tobias prepared the two rooms nearest the south staircase. I guess you two can decide which ones you want." Gran said with a shrug.

"Ok." I said as I got to my feet. "Coming Amb?"

"Sure." She said, and got up too.

"Lunch should be ready at noon." Gran said.

"We'll be back down by then." I promised.

With that I led Amber through to the dining room so we could use the south staircase to get to the first floor.

"I always feel like I'm in a castle when I come here." Amber whispered as we reached the last spiral before we reached the landing for the first floor.

"I know. I was born here and I feel that way too. I used to come over every day before we moved to the Res and even then I felt like a princess coming to a castle."

"That must have been something." Amber sighed as we stepped out into the south corridor of the first floor.

"Take your pick." I said, indicating the two closest doors.

"I get to choose?" Amber asked in astonishment.

"You're the guest." I said. "You can look inside if you want to."

"Um, is it ok if I have this room so I'm not right next to the stairs?" She asked timidly.

"Of course." I said and opened the door to show her inside. "Just do whatever you need to make this feel more comfortable, and of course every room has an adjoining bathroom."

I went to open the door to show her inside.

"All this just for me?" She asked in astonishment.

"Yeah." I confirmed.

"I'm gonna feel like a princess." She said in an excited whisper.

"Well wait till I show you the tower room at the Stables." I said and nudged her.

"Tower room?" She exclaimed before looking at me with awe. "You had a tower room?"

"What can I say? I'm a spoilt brat." I quipped, throwing in a shrug for good measure.

"You're not." Amber said carefully.

"That's my girl." I said, hugging her with one arm. "Does well to butter up your Alpha."

Amber blushed as she ducked her head.

"Anyway, I'll be next door if you need me, if not I'll call on you at five-to so we can make our way down for lunch. Gramps thrives on punctuality."

Amber nodded, looking a little scared.

"You've met him before. You know he's ok." I said.

Amber nodded in agreement.

"See you later." I said, and tapped her shoulder before I left her room and headed to the one next door.

I didn't bother unpacking; I only had a few overnight things since we were only staying the weekend. Instead I lay down on the bed and let my body relax. Then keeping my breathing steady I let myself rise out of my body. This was something us vampire-wolf hybrids could do. The one's descended from the Black line like me were usually more gifted, although I am a lot better than my sisters, Lydia and Astrid, but recently my baby brother Loki seemed to be gaining. I didn't know if it was down to him getting older, or that our cousin Addie was affecting him somehow now he was phasing too. I think us Black wolves were more gifted with the mind stuff because it was already in our lineage, the part that came from our vampire Cullen line. My great-great grandfather Edward is a gifted telepath, only the mind reading, and my great-grandmother Nessie can send thoughts. Since my Grandma Essie, we've been able to do both. It is thought that because the Quileute are telepathic in our wolf forms so we can communicate with each other, it carries over into our human form, only us Black wolves are much more talented than the Falgo wolves. There is another line of Fangs, as we're known on the Res, and they have telepathy too.

What I was about to do was mostly to do with my Quileute heritage, although being part uber telepathic vampire didn't hurt any. Back before Taha-Aki and the wolf, all Quileute warriors could do this, spirit walk. It was an art lost to our people, but my Grandma Essie rediscovered it when she was the only Fang, or uncertainty as she called herself. Gran had taught me not long after I started phasing when it was clear I was gonna be powerful. Better I know how to do it willingly than it happen when I was panicked.

I relaxed into the bed and let myself drift from my body. Before me I could see pulsating streams of colour snaking off from me in all directions. I knew these were all the minds I had ever connected to. The more prominent the closer I was to those people. The most prominent and biggest stream I knew belonged to Zeke. He is my imprint after all.

I dipped into the stream and felt myself drawn along it all the way to Northern Heights, the house owned by my Auntie Prue and her husband Tibbi, which they turned into a foster home for dhampir. He was in a sectioned off part of the enormous conservatory that let in a lot of natural light. There was about twenty dhampir sat around at the tables, including Brah, and Zeke was placing 3D shapes on each table, describing light and shade as he went, that was the lesson for the day.

I kinda tuned out of what he was saying as I just watched him instead as he moved around. The light that filtered through the glass of the conservatory causing ripples of gold highlights across his dirty blond hair that he was starting to grow out again. It had grown two inches in the past two weeks, a normal thing for dhampir, but last time we were together it had been brow length, now I couldn't wait to really run my fingers through it to see if it felt as soft as it looked. I got a good look of his dark blue eyes too, flashing with that enthusiasm he always got when he got onto the subject of art. It was one of the reasons I got into drawing big time as a kid. I wanted to be just like my cool friend Zeke. Now he was all mine and I couldn't wait to be with him again.

Unfortunately spirit walking is a big drain on the energy stores, worse still my vamp energy stores. I had to return to my body before I really drained myself, and risk wanting to sink my teeth into Amber since she was the nearest wolf blood.

I checked the bedside clock. It was quarter to twelve. I got up off the bed and went to wash before lunch. That was always a good idea when eating at Grandpa's.

I found Amber hovering outside my door. She'd been wondering whether to knock or not or even if she was running late because she didn't hear the door when she was having a quick shower and blow drying her hair. It was a dark glossy curtain down her back, which was really unusual for Amber. She usually wore it in pigtails unless we were going running, but she usually wore elastics around her wrists so she had them on hand to tie her hair straight up as soon as we were done being wolves.

"You ok?" I asked her.

"Yeah." She said with a weak smile that faltered. "Not really. I feel a little sick. Is that normal? And I'm worried that he won't like me anymore. I mean we only spoke for a few hours. What if I got it wrong?" She worried, pacing back and fore in front of me.

"Amber! Chill!" I ordered as I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

She looked back at me, breathing shallowly and looking much like a deer caught in the headlights with her big brown eyes.

"Would you have been so quick to kiss him if you weren't sure?" I asked.

Amber shook her head. She'd only ever kissed three guys and that had been more out of courtesy at the end of the school dance than any advancing on Amber's side.

"And you think he would have got over mooning about Isla so quickly if it wasn't true?"

"I don't know. How serious was he about her?" Amber said, clearly trying to find flaw in my argument.

"He had a bad case of the Florence Nightingales." I said firmly. "Amber, he is your imprint and you just need to relax or you'll end up fursploding and I'm sure you don't wanna scare the baby dhampir like that."

Amber shook her head.

"Then take a deep breath, stop worrying and come have something to eat. You know us wolves, we can always deal better on a full stomach." I coaxed her.

Amber nodded her head.

"Let's go down to lunch." I stated.

Without saying another word, after all I am Alpha and as easy going as I am I should be obeyed, I went through the south staircase door. Amber followed close behind me and I gave her a smile as we went down to the dining room.

It was weird coming in here and seeing only four places set. There had always been more people here at Tregarran when I was visiting, even when I only lived three miles away.

"Come sit down." Gran said. "Tobias is just sending up the food."

As me and Amber took our seats I heard the whirr of motors as Gramps sent the food up in the dumbwaiter.

"Fish and golden rice." Gran said as she carried a big tureen and then a domed platter over to the table.

"Delicious." I said, feeling my mouth water from the scent alone.

"Help yourselves." Gran said as she removed the lid from the rice and the dome from the fish.

I piled rice onto my dish then passed the spoon to Amber before I helped myself to the third of the poached fish. Gramps appeared in the meantime carrying a mug, even before the scent hit me I knew it was blood. It was a method he'd developed years ago to let him eat the same time as his family. He could pretend it was soup.

He sat down in the place set next to Gran as she was helping herself to what was left. I dug into my food and Amber took that as her cue to do it too.

"This is really tasty Mr Black." She said softly.

"Thank you Amber, and please, I invite you to call me Tobias." Gramps replied lightly before taking a sip from his mug.

"Gramps is the best cook in the world." I said firmly.

"Thank you too Magda, but I believe you are somewhat biased." Gramps joked.

"Don't give us that false modesty bull Fang Boy, you know you're a world class cook." Gran said and rolled her eyes before they both laughed, I did and so did Amber once she realised they were joking around.

"So what's the plan of attack?" Gran directed toward me.

"Once we've had lunch we're gonna head on over to the Heights and take it from there." I said.

"Will we be seeing much of you this weekend?" Gramps asked in a careful way, like he didn't mind either way.

"We'll be back here tonight." I promised. "Well Sora will definitely veto Amber moving here with us if I let her stay over at a guys house and Auntie Prue made it pretty clear that she doesn't want me staying with Zeke over at the Heights cause of the kids."

"He's more than welcome to stay here the night." Gramps said while Gran frowned a little.

"That wouldn't be fair on Amber. As an Alpha I have to follow the same rules as my pack. So if Amber can't have a boy over then neither can I."

"Yep. That's fair." Gran said with a nod.

"Then tomorrow I'm going job hunting. I figure that if I got a job it'll be easier to get a house. I can just use Tregarran as my home address while applying."

"As we've stated before, we'd be more than happy to have you live with us." Gramps stated.

"I know, but I want my pack here too and that wouldn't be fair on you." I said.

"I have no qualms in cooking for a houseful." Gramps said with a shrug.

"I know you don't, but you and Gran should be able to enjoy your downtime and that ain't gonna happen with six rowdy girls who can fursplode at any moment cluttering up your lives." I stated.

"It is entirely your call." Gramps said with a nod.

"It would be good if I could find somewhere for all six of us to move into. Even if it's a three bedroom place and we have to share two to a room. It'll be like we're away at college or something. We can expand out when we settle down, but anything to get my whole pack here is a good thing."

"And if they imprint on humans they'd stop phasing anyway." Amber said.

"Yeah. But they'll always be pack sisters." I said firmly.

"Just no longer have the duty." Amber observed.

"But the both of us will." I said and I hugged Amber to me. "I'm glad to know I have at least one pack sister with me forever and not because you're a lonely spinster afraid to make a commitment because you just know that one day your imprint could come walking round the corner."

"I hadn't thought about that side of things." Amber said, looking thoughtful. "I'll get to be forever young and always an awesome wolf."

"Yeah. Just don't go showing off to the others." I said and winked at her.

"I won't." She said, and shook her head.

"I know you don't want the gentlemen to stay the night, but perhaps they could come for dinner this evening?" Gramps asked.

"Sure. What time?"

"Shall we set it for eight?" Gran suggested.

"Sounds great." I agreed, at least it was something Zeke and me could do away from the Heights together.

"Then we'll see you kids later." Gran said since we'd finished our food a while back.

"Ok. And we'll head over on foot."

With that me and Amber left Tregarran through the kitchen. It was the quickest route to take us out to the back yard. We crossed the back yard and headed into the trees, running north to Northern Heights. It wasn't as fast as I could go, but faster than a human could run, because my girls weren't as fast in their human form as they were in their wolf form.

We neared the Heights the back way and I reached out my mind until I connected with Auntie Prue.

 _Mags? That you?_ She asked.

 _Yeah. Just letting you know that I'm here with Amber since we're coming in the back way._ I informed her.

 _Ok. I'll come out to meet you._

Auntie Prue was waiting by the back door when we emerged from the trees.

"Hi girls, did you have a good trip?" She asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

"I know why you're here. Mags, Zeke is just finishing up a lesson with the younger dhampir, I'm sure you can track him down."

"I can." I confirmed.

"And Amber, you can come with me and I'll show you where Brah is." Auntie Prue offered.

Amber wasn't so sure at first.

"Don't worry. I won't bite you. So not my type." Auntie Prue joked.

Amber laughed and followed Prue into the house. I followed them into the kitchen but followed my mind to Zeke. He was still in the conservatory washing up the paint pots.

"Need any help?" I asked.

Zeke froze then turned to me. A smile spread across his face, but he stayed at the sink.

"Mags." He breathed my name.

 _I know you have to keep a good image now you're a teacher here, but if you need help tidying then I'll help. The quicker we do it the quicker your mine._

 _Good point._ He thought back.

"It's good to see you." He said out loud.

"So what you want me to do?" I asked.

"Collect the shapes up then check if any of them dropped brushes or anything on the floor."

"Sure." I agreed.

So we spent the next half hour putting everything right.

"What now?" I asked.

"We go see if Mom wants me to do anything else today, and if not, I'm all yours." Zeke said softly.

"Good." I said, feeling the tension between us.

What I wouldn't give to be kissing him right now, but I knew Auntie Prue didn't want us to do that in front of the kids. I smiled a little awkwardly before I turned from him and headed to the door of the conservatory. Zeke stepped up behind me and brushed my arm with his fingers.

 _I was kinda hoping you'd locate her with your mind to make it quicker._ He thought toward me.

 _Sure._ I said and let my mind flow out around the whole house until I locate Auntie Prue up in the big room.

"I think it's story time for the little ones." I said.

"I guess we'll go wait in the office until she's finished." Zeke said.

"Yeah." I agreed, not sure how I'd handle sitting with him for who knew how long and not being able to do anything.

There were comfy chairs in one corner of Auntie Prue's office where kids could to sit and speak to her in private if they had any problems. I sat in one and Zeke sat opposite.

"How was your journey?" He asked, looking into my eyes.

"Good. I mean, the usual journey from La Push." I said with a shrug.

"I've never actually travelled it." He said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh yeah. I haven't shown you the Res yet." I said with a frown.

"Maybe next weekend I could come visit you?" Zeke suggested.

"If we're still Res side my pack will be running Saturday, so it's probably for the best. Though you'll have to bring Brah with you or Amber will never forgive us. Though I'm not sure where you can stay. It's a little crowded at my house and there's no way in hell Sora will let Amber have a boy stay over."

"We could book a hotel room. They got some with twin beds right?"

"Yeah." I confirmed.

"And if not, well I'm sure me and Brah could find somewhere to camp out." Zeke said with a shrug, and truth was they'd both slept in worse places than a tent.

"Or we all could. Out at the lake. Been a while since we've all hung out there." I planned.

"Sounds great. But I do wanna see the Res too." Zeke said firmly.

"You will." I promised. "Maybe we can stay up at the lake on Friday and then Saturday you can have my bed since I won't be using it. Brah could probably have Loki's bed. I don't think he's used it once since we got back. He usually finds some excuse to stay out at his tree house with Leda."

"I guess that could work." Zeke conceded.

"Otherwise he'll have to camp on my floor."

"Yeah." Zeke said, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at the floor. He was thinking the same as me; if Brah was on my floor I wouldn't be able to slip into bed with Zeke when I finished running.

"So, I watched you teaching." I said, to change the subject away from things we shouldn't discuss in school.

Zeke looked up at me with a frown.

"You did?" He asked.

I nodded.

"I didn't see you. I definitely would have known you were there, even if you were peeking through the window."

"Let's say I was here in spirit." I said with a shrug.

"Spirit?" Zeke asked.

"I was spirit walking." I explained.

"You were? You can do that?"

"I am a Fang. And the most gifted of my generation. Or at least I was. I think Addie might be taking over me, but still, best girl." I said with a grin, then scowled a little. "Though not saying much since my opposition is the GT and they're rather dismal."

"I still have to meet them." Zeke observed.

"That'll be great." I said flatly, then laughed.

"They really so bad they deserve the name Gruesome Twosome?" He asked.

"I wasn't the one who named them that." I said ominously.

"Well I don't know if I wanna meet them now." He said, faking looking worried.

"Just be polite at them and don't take no crap and you should be fine." I stated.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"They're trolls of the highest order. You don't feed them and they got no power."

"I'll try and remember that."

"I'll kick their asses if they get too much." I said with a shrug.

"Thanks. I guess." Zeke said with a chuckle.

"You're worth it." I said, grinning at him.

"Ok. What are you doing here?" Auntie Prue asked as she came into her office.

"Mom!" Zeke exclaimed as he shot to his feet. "Sorry, we'll wait outside next time."

"I meant, why are you still here. You've finished till Monday. Thought you would have took off already." Auntie Prue said, looking between the both of us.

Ok. So explanation here. Prue is actually my flesh and blood auntie. She's my mother's sister. As for Zeke, she adopted him after he was rescued from a farm. He was the first kid to be fostered here at Northern Heights. So Zeke and I are cousins through adoption, but biologically there's no relation between us. Which for my childhood crush was a good thing, but even better for my adult imprinting.

"I thought I should come see if you needed me for anything else." Zeke explained.

"No. Now go get lost before the kids get out of their last lesson and follow you."

"Thanks Mom." Zeke said and hugged her.

"Now get."

"Ok. But if Brah needs me, I got my phone." Zeke said, taking it out of his pocket.

"I can field him and if it's anything guy related I'm sure Tibbi can handle it."

"I know. But you know what the kids are like when they're first off the farm. I don't want him to think I've abandoned him." Zeke worried.

"He knows you'll want to spend time with Mags, and to be honest I think he'll be too busy making doe eyes at Amber to really notice you're not here."

"Ok. But if…" He began, but Prue cut him off.

"Yeah. Now stop clinging like a new mom on her first night out since the birth and go have fun." Prue said, more or less herding us out of the office. "Bye."

Before Zeke could say another word, Prue closed the door on us. Zeke scowled a little, but I took his hand and when he looked at me, I indicated with my head for him to follow me. I started pulling him toward his room.

 _Wrong way._ He said, and pulled me in the other direction.

 _You got a new room?_ I asked.

 _Not exactly new._ Zeke said as he led me to the back staircase that led into the back garden.

 _Why are we heading outside?_ I asked.

 _You'll see._ Zeke replied as he tugged on my hand before he started running

I run after him as he led me into the trees. We ran for a full minuet until I was sure we had to be out of the boundaries of Northern Heights.

 _We're close to the edge of the border, but not quite. More important, the kids are not allowed out this way._ Zeke said as we stopped by a small hill.

 _What's out here?_ I asked, running fingers gently up and down his arm and kissing his shoulder now we were alone.

"This." Zeke said, and he moved a whole bunch of trailing ivy aside and revealed a door.

"Oh." I said as he grinned at me before he took my finger and placed it against a print reader on the door.

Nothing happened.

"I got the only key." He said, holding up his index finger and he placed it to the reader.

There was a whirr of gears and the door opened inwards.

"I can add you now you're here." He said as he led me inside.

I followed him in to what looked like a fair sized cabin on the inside. It was full of art supplies and the perfect little hidey-hole I could imagine for Zeke. Right at the back there was a bed and a little bit of a kitchen, just a small sink, a hot plate and a mini-fridge.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"We're not one hundred percent sure. I found it one day when I was out trying to clear my head after a mission. I told Mom about it, she wasn't sure at first because it's not on any of the modern blue prints, but she found an old ordinance map from the nineteenth century that said it was a gamekeepers hut. She thinks her parents buried its existence when we were cleaning it out and discovered this."

Zeke had been moving to the back area of the cabin, pulling me along slowly behind him until he reached the back. He moved aside a picture he'd painted of the pine trees outside so it was a sort of mock up of a window. There was a finger print reader behind the painting and he placed his finger to it. There was another whir of gears and the whole section of wall swung into a vast echoing space.

"It was a normal keyhole when I first came here and Mom brought up a load of keys she'd found around the Stables when she was cleaning it out with Grace and they had no idea what they were for. We eventually found the right one, but once I decided to use this as my secret space I decided to add extra security features that I brought up from HQ."

We stepped into the echoing space and lights flickered on. It revealed, well I guess I would call it a dojo. The floor was padded and there were weapons mounted on the wall along with a few other pieces of equipment for keeping fit and in shape. It was old though, and looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. A little office area had been set up in the corner to my right with a recent looking computer set up.

"So." Zeke asked, as he leant casually against the wall and grinned at me. "You want a key to my place?"

"Oh, I don't know. That's moving a little fast." I teased.

Zeke laughed as he took my hand again and led me over to the computer. He turned it on and sat down in the only chair. I didn't mind, I looked around the place some more, wondering at the weapons.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Mom thinks this is where her parents came to train in secret." Zeke said a little absentmindedly as he concentrated on setting up his computer.

"To hunt wolves?" I asked, feeling suddenly sick.

It was an unfortunate truth in my family history. Mom's family had been wolf hunters. As in werewolves. The Children of the Moon, not Quileute, but they still hunted wolves, and the Eclipse of the Moon didn't make it quick. My grandparents did stop after they got guilt from killing a werewolf that turned out to be a little girl they'd met in the nearby village, but still, they'd done it.

"Mags? Are you ok?" Zeke asked, and he was standing now, his hand on my arm as he looked into my eyes.

"They practiced here to kill those poor people." I whispered.

"Only after they decided to bring the Eclipse of the Moon down from the inside." Zeke said gently.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. When I got here I found an old computer. I managed to boot it up and after a few tips from Masen I managed to get into it. It was Brigham's journal of the whole situation. Of wanting to document everything so that when they brought them down they'd have the evidence to stop them retaliating. First up was creating this place behind the old gamekeeper cottage so they had somewhere they could train without the rest of the Eclipse knowing. Also so they could hold secret meetings with Garry."

"I guess, it's not so bad now. If this was where they trained when they became more ethical. They didn't know you could tame Children of the Moon and they were working on a cure. If it was during that time then I guess it's not so bad." I conceded.

"Sorry I didn't think about that aspect." Zeke said as he hugged me.

"It's not a problem really. Just caught me a little off guard." I said as I hugged him back. "So you ready to give me this key?" I asked to change the subject.

"Yeah. I got the software set up now. I just need your index finger." He said as he went back to the computer.

I moved closer to him and held out my arm with my index finger extended. Zeke gently took my hand and guided it to the pad next to his keyboard. I put my finger to it and waited while it scanned my fingerprint. I pulled my hand back and leant lightly on Zeke's shoulder as the computer thought and then accepted my print.

"There." Zeke said, and set his computer to shut down before he took my hand. He kissed the back of my hand then stood, turning to face me and he looked into my eyes.

"So practically nobody knows about this place?" I asked as I placed my hands on his shoulders and moved a little closer to him.

"Only Mom and Dad, and they won't come out here." He said with a casual shrug as he placed his hands on my hips.

I rubbed my nose against his, which wasn't a difficult task considering we're both the same height. I grinned as I moved my lips to his ear and whispered, "So we're completely alone out here?"

"Yeah." Zeke sighed as he trailed his fingers up and down my spine, which felt really good.

"Finally." I said, and placed my lips to his.

Zeke pulled away from me and took my hand.

"Let's go in here it's more cosy." He said as he led me back into the little cabin area. "The gym is too, well not sexy." He added with a grin as he pressed a button and the wall sealed itself shut and we were now in a cosy little place.

"Yeah. It's much better in here." I agreed, before I turned back to him and pulled him to me so I could kiss him again.

* * *

 **Amber**

I went into the room that turned out to be a study/library type of thing. There was my… well we hadn't actually agreed on a term yet because, well we hadn't really had chance to talk, but I was gonna spend the rest of my life with him. I guess I could call him my Brah.

He was sat at a table, his big lips pursed and a little frowny line between his eyebrows as looked down at the paper in front of him, tapping his pen on the table. I bit my lip, trying to think the best way to announce my presence.

Brah sniffed the air, and his face smoothed out as he straightened up and turned to me. Then that heart stopping smile spread across his face, wide and toothy that stood out against his dark skin.

"Amber!" He said happily as he jumped to his feet and reached me with vamp speed to hug me. "I'm glad to see you."

"Yeah." I agreed, melting into the hug, he was so warm and he smelt good.

"I'm doing writing." He said as he took my hand and led me over to the table. "Do you want to see?"

"Of course." I said as I sat in the chair next to his and he slipped the paper across to me.

I looked down at the paper and it was half full of the round script of someone who was just learning how to write and hadn't quite moved onto cursive. This was the truth, but not Brah's fault at all. He'd been bred in one of the dhampir breeding farms ran by the League and since they'd earmarked him for breeding they didn't bother to educate him beyond the birds and the bees. He'd only started copying letters a few weeks ago, now he was writing sentences himself.

I read what he'd been writing.

 ** _Dear Amber_**  
 ** _Will you please go on a date with me tomorrow night, which is Saturday? I can't drive yet so it will have to be walking, so a picnic? Or maybe…_**

I guess that's where I'd disturbed him.

"You're just practicing writing?" I asked.

"Yes. Zeke said that all practice is good and I have a free period. I knew you was coming so I wrote you a note." He said with a shrug.

"It's good." I said as I reached along the desk to pick up his pen.

 ** _Dear Brah_** ,  
 ** _I would love to go on a date with you. A picnic would be nice, but if you want to catch a movie or something I could always drive. I'm sure Mags will lend me her car and if not I'll be brave and ask Tobias or Essie. Whatever, we can do something together.  
Love,_**  
 ** _Amber_**

I finished and pushed the note back to him. Brah looked at it for a long moment, his face screwing up more with every passing second.

"I can't read it I'm sorry. The letters all go into each other." He explained.

"Sorry. I probably should have printed it." I said, feeling my cheeks burn for being so dense, but I was so used to writing in cursive from school.

I felt Brah glance at me and then he put his arm around me. He pulled me in close to his side and pointed to my writing.

"This I must learn to read too. Maybe you can teach me." He said in a low smooth voice that made me feel all tingly.

"Yeah-huh." I managed to say as I nodded my head.

"So this one, what does it say?" He asked, pointing to the first word.

"Dear." I said.

Brah looked between my writing and his own at the top of the page for a moment, then nodded his head as he grinned.

"I see it now. It is obvious when I see them side-by-side. And that one is 'Brah'."

"You're just guessing that." I murmured.

"No. I will prove. 'Dear Brah, I would l…o…v…e. love to go on a date with you.'" He read out loud, then grinned. "You want to go on a date with me?"

"Yeah." I confirmed.

"That is wonderful." He said wistfully, then cleared his throat. "I will read more. 'A picnic would be nice, but if you want to c…c…a..t…c huh?' Um…"

"Catch." I whispered, pointing at the word.

"Yeah. I remember now, c and h it makes a chuh sound."

"That's right." I nodded.

"Ok. 'But if you want to _catch_ a movie or something I could always drive.' You can drive?"

"Yeah." I said, and nodded. "Soon as I turned sixteen I learnt."

"Maybe you teach me that too?" He asked, grinning at me.

"I can't. At least not until I'm eighteen. It's the law." I stated.

"But you look older." Brah said with a frown.

"I know, but according to my license I'm sixteen, so no die." I said with a shrug.

"Then I can't learn yet." Brah stated.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because eight is less than sixteen."

I gaped and pulled away from him.

"Eight?" I asked.

"I think that is what Mom said my age is when I told her my number." Brah said, frowning a little.

"Y-your number?" I stammered.

"What they gave me at the farm. At least that's what Mom said the numbers mean."

"So you could be older?" I asked hopefully.

Brah shrugged.

"How long have you been fully grown?" I asked, figuring that was the easiest way to work it out.

"Not long. They moved me into the birthing barracks last year."

"So you are eight then." I said with a groan.

"I'm fully grown." He said firmly.

"I know, but I need to get my mind around that fact." I said, and I moved around the table and sat down opposite.

He looked at me a little hurt.

"I know you're fully grown, and I know plenty of dhampir to know that matters more than the amount of time they've been on earth. I just need a little more advice. I think." I muttered.

"Then you don't want to go on a date with me?" Brah asked, frowning a little.

"I think I need to talk to Prue and Tibbi. I don't know. I mean you mostly seem like an adult, but is it right if you're not even a decade old? But then you're fully-grown. You look as old as me and the only reason you're not already in university is down to those bastards holding you back. I'm confused."

"I'm sorry." Brah said, dropping his head.

"You don't need to be." I said and tapped his hand.

"What can I do to help you?" Brah asked.

"Ask me to be what you want me to be to you." I said, suddenly realising.

"What do you mean?"

"The rules of imprinting is that the wolf becomes whatever the imprintee needs them to be." I explained.

"I see. I could make you be my lover just by saying it?" Brah asked.

I nodded.

"But if you're uncomfortable with my age that would be wrong. It would be like if I forced you. It wouldn't be your permission." Brah said in a low calm voice.

"Wow. That's the most grown up thing I've ever heard a guy say." I whispered. "That's like a real adult attitude."

"Then I am older than eight?" He asked.

"You sure act it." I replied. "And I guess we won't be doing anything immediately anyway. We need to properly get to know each other first. So I guess I got time to get my head around it. So yeah, a date would be a nice place to start and a picnic in the day isn't such a romantic date. More a friend date."

"A friend date is better than no date." Brah conceded. "And we should talk. I want to know all about you. Everything about you."

"Me too." I said with a smile.

"So I'm not a complete loss?" He asked.

"No." I assured him. "Like I said, I just need to settle my mind."

"Ok." He said with a nod. "I think I have finished with writing today. We can go into the garden to talk if you want? I would invite you to my room, but that is not a friend thing to do."

"I guess not." I whispered as I felt myself blush.

"Perhaps I could ask permission to leave the grounds and we go running?"

"Yeah. And I'm faster as wolf." I said smiling a little. "You got a back pack?"

"Why?"

"So I can store my clothes in. If you don't mind you can carry them so if we reach somewhere that seems cool to talk I can phase back."

"I will be honoured to see your wolf." Brah said solemnly. "And I will be honoured to carry your bag."

"Thanks." I said as I stood up. "Though it would be your bag."

"I have one in my room. Zeke bought it for me." Brah said as he stood up too and I looked across into his dark eyes. "I can show you where my room is but you can wait outside."

"Ok." I replied.

"It's this way." He said as he picked up the piece of paper, folded it and placed it in his back pocket. "I like pockets. They're useful." He said as he held his arm out for me.

I found it cute, if a little confusing as I slid my arm through his. He tapped my hand, smiled at me, and led me from the study library thing. We went upstairs to the second floor where there were doors on both sides of the corridor. He led me along to one and opened it. It was a little dark in the corridor, it had to be lit by overhead lights, but the room itself was drenched in light.

Brah stepped inside and a moment later came out carrying a backpack.

"We should find Mom or Dad." He said.

I nodded.

It was Tibbi who we found. He'd just finished breaking apart a group of fighting dhampir girls. They had to go write out lines about why it was wrong to fight with family.

"Brah, what can I do for you?" Tibbi asked.

"I want to ask permission to go off the grounds." He replied.

Tibbi glanced at me then back to Brah.

"Where to?"

"To run in the woods so Amber can show me her wolf."

"Ok. Can you give us a minuet?" Tibbi asked and before Brah could answer he pulled me over to the opposite end of the yard. "You know Brah is only eight?" He whispered.

"Yeah. He just told me. That's why we're going for a nice friendly run." I replied.

"Ok. We don't want you to rush into anything because we haven't had chance to really assess his maturity level yet."

"I know. It's cause some dhampir are still kids at eight while others are fully grown. I know that." I said, feeling bad.

"It's not that we don't trust you, but we know what imprinting is like and we don't want you doing something you might regret later."

"I've spent my whole life being a good girl, I'm sure I can handle a few more years."

Tibbi tapped my shoulder before stepping past me and going back to Brah. I followed him over.

"Very well you may go, but have you got your phone if there's an emergency?" Tibbi asked and Brah took a brand new looking smart phone from his pocket. "Good. You may stay out until nine o'clock, but if we need you back sooner we'll phone you."

"Ok." Brah said with a nod.

"Don't go beyond the foot hills, the mountains can be hard to navigate if you don't know them."

"We won't." I assured him.

"Then you may go."

"Thank you." Brah said with a smile before he took my hand and we ran into the forest.

I had to pull back on him a little because I was fast in my human form, probably twice as fast as any human, but not as fast as a dhampir at top speed. Brah looked back at me.

"I can't run that fast in my human skin." I explained, and he slowed to a more bearable pace.

We reached little clearing that was starting to fill up with new growth. The bushy little trees would be perfect for me to hide behind.

"Here should be good." I said and stopped.

"Good for what?" He asked.

"I got some cover with the bushes. But I'll put my shoes in your bag ready." I said as I undid my boots and made sure not to put my socks onto the muddy floor.

Brah took his bag off his back and held it open for me while I put my boots in.

"I'll fold my clothes up and put them around the back of the bush. Can you go get them for me as soon as I'm a wolf?" I asked.

"Ok."

"And when I'm a wolf I won't be able to talk to you, but I'll try and convey what I want to say."

"I can handle that." Brah said with a nod.

"Ok." I moved toward the bush then turned back to him, feeling awkward for having to say this, but, "You won't peek will you?"

"If you don't want me to, no." He said.

"I knew you were a gentleman." I said with a smile before I ducked behind the bush.

I pulled my pants off first since my t-shirt was long enough. I folded them and balanced them on the bush. Then I took off my t-shirt and folded it as quickly as possible since I was now naked, once we started phasing us wolves tended to go commando since it saved on the underwear bill.

Then I let the heat surge through me and I phased. It was a little weird not hearing my pack sisters around me, but I had to phase on my own some times. I trotted around the bush to find Brah looking away into the opposite direction. I let out a yelp and Brah turned to me. He frowned at first but that smile spread across his face again as he stepped up to me with his hand out. I stepped closer and brushed my head against his hand and he scratched me behind my ear. That felt good, but I couldn't fall into it. We came out here to run. I brushed my head against him for a moment, then butted him gently toward the bush before going around it myself.

I pointed to where I'd left my clothes with my nose and Brah picked them up and put them in his backpack. I waited for him to zip it up and put it on his back. Then I trotted back and fore a little, and bounded off into the forest, checking back after a few yards to make sure Brah was following me.

He was following me and we ran together. Brah was following my lead and I was following my nose toward the scent of water. I was sure there was some kind of pond out here, or even a brook we could sit by to talk.

We ended up at the foot of a waterfall where the water pooled before flowing slowly away. I sniffed around until I found a rock I could hide behind. Brah had stuck with me and I turned to him now and swiped my paw against his bag. He nodded and slipped off the bag and placed it on the floor.

I looked at him expectantly. He scratched behind my ear then went around the rock. I took a breath and concentrated to pull down the heat until I felt my body shiver back to human. I quickly unzipped the bag and pulled on the t-shirt then pulled on my pants. I didn't bother with my boots. I picked up the bag and walked barefoot around the rock to find Brah sitting on a rock at the water's edge.

I placed his bag down beside him, rolled up my pant legs and sat down next to him, dangling my feet in the ice-cold water.

"You're a beautiful wolf." He said.

"Thank you."

"A pretty chocolate brown." He clarified.

I giggled and shrugged, I'd never actually seen myself as a wolf and the Elders tended to be against us taking pictures of each other as wolves just in case they got out to the wider public.

"I wish I could be a wolf." He mused.

"Only problem with that is if you were we wouldn't be imprints. Wolves don't imprint on wolves."

"Why?"

"Just the way it is." I said with a shrug. "I guess it's like incest, the genes are too close. We even avoid dating other wolves now. There was Jim and Daphne Uley. They got together, of course that was before it was frowned upon. Daphne was one of the first female wolves so of course there was nothing to go before to see how bad it was. Anyway, they had twin daughters and though they could phase for a while, as soon as they had kids they lost the fire. So the pack figured that wolves shouldn't get together with wolves."

"Then I'm glad I'm not a wolf." Brah said with a nod.

"Me too." I said and leant my head against him.

Brah moved a little, I think he was going to put his arm around me, but maybe he thought better of it.

"Does the water feel good?" He asked.

"Yeah. Take your shoes off and see."

"Ok." Brah said.

I straightened up as he stood up, took off his trainers and socks, and rolled up the legs of his jeans before he sat back down and put his feet into the water. He hissed and pulled his feet back out quickly.

"That's cold!" He exclaimed.

"A little, but put your feet in and you'll soon get used to it." I said, gently stroking his arm.

Brah gave me a doubtful look, but put his feet back into the water. He winced a little as he lowered them into the water. I giggled and wrapped my arm around his as I rubbed my toe against his foot.

"I've never paddled before." Brah said. "This is paddling, right?"

"Yeah." I confirmed.

"I like it." He said as he moved his feet a little and they brushed against mine. "And you were right, you get used to the cold."

I sighed happily.

"What is it that we talk about to get to know each other?"

"I'm not sure. I don't usually get to know people. I'm usually too shy, but I can talk ok with you. That's weirdly nice." I mused.

"Then we just talk?"

"Yeah."

"What about?"

"I don't know. You want me to tell you about the Res?" I offered.

"I'd prefer you tell me about you." Brah stated.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Do you have parents?" He asked.

"Yeah. Of course I do. I got a Mom and a Dad. Though they're not together anymore. I live with Mom, but that's cause Dad moved back in with his parents and couldn't really take care of me when I was younger because he had to go out running on certain nights."

"I am sorry your parents are no longer together."

I shrugged.

"It happens. Mom is a Stonelake, they've never really crossed paths with the wolves, so although they know the legends they don't understand what that means. On top of that, it was a high school fling that Mom and Dad really should have been more careful about. Dad's not a deadbeat, he's always been in my life, it's just that they did things backwards. They had a kid before they really got to know each other."

"That is bad?"

I nodded.

"My parents didn't know each other at all and my father didn't care. Zeke said something interesting. He thinks my mother is a dhampir."

"Could she be?" I asked.

Brah shrugged.

"Mom told me that Dr Cullen is planning on screening DNA of us rescued. It is the map inside us that shows where we come from? And it can show who our parents and siblings are? They match the code and then they know?"

"That's sorta right." I said. "I mean the matching the code bit is right, but it's a bit more complicated than a map. I guess he could find out if your mother was dhampir though. I think there's special markers. I'm not really good at biology." I admitted.

"Will it help me know who I am?"

"No. Only you can know who you are, but it can help you find where you came from. This isn't going out on a limb, you've obviously got African ancestors, but you'd find out other places your ancestors come from. Not only that, you can find out if you have got any brothers or sisters. I know you got Zeke now, but it's kinda like me and the pack. I got my pack sisters and I love them to bits, but if Mom or Dad ever had another kid I'd want to know them too."

"Then I shall sign up for it." Brah said with a nod. "Now a question. What is African?"

"It means someone who comes from Africa. It's a continent across the ocean. It's big and hot."

"How do you know I could come from there?"

"Well not you personally, but one of your ancestors came from there at some point in the past." I said, feeling a little uncomfortable now I had to get into the nitty-gritty.

"How do you know?"

"Because of the colour of your skin. People with dark skin were originally from Africa. At least their ancestors were." I explained.

"But your skin is dark. Are you from Africa too?"

"It's a different kind of dark. More a reddy-brown than a dark brown. I'm Native American as far as I can tell. Maybe there's a white man somewhere in my ancestry, but as far as I know I'm mostly Quileute with a little Makah and Hoh thrown in."

"Perhaps you should do the test too and find out?" Brah suggested.

"Maybe once Carlisle's processed all the dhampir, but I don't want to burden him with my curiosity. It's not important right now. Not like you finding your blood relatives."

"Ok. I will sign up for the test and then I will know. Yes, it's for the best I think. Thank you for talking me through this." He said and kissed my temple.

"You're welcome." I whispered.

"From what you said, you don't have brothers or sisters?"

"No." I confirmed. "I was an only child, but there's so many kids on the Res it seems like you got a lot of siblings, and especially when I became part of a pack. I was glad I got accepted into Mags pack, I think it would have been awkward if I was in the same pack as Dad."

"Why would that be?" Brah asked.

"Because it would be uber awkward having him see my thoughts." I said, feeling myself blush again.

"Are your thoughts that bad?" Brah asked, and he wasn't joking around.

"No. But you know, there's stuff you don't want your parents to know about. Dads can be pretty protective of their daughters. One wrong thought about a boy at the wrong moment could get him a whole heap of trouble, even if we hadn't done anything." I explained.

"Must I be afraid of your father?" Brah asked, sounding worried.

"No. I imprinted on you so you can't do me wrong." I said firmly.

"What does do you wrong mean?"

"Well some guys can be jerks. They be all nice to girls and then when they get sex out of them they get all-indifferent or don't think they have to put any effort in anymore. Or even just drop them outright. Although it's rare, every Dad worries that the guy his teenage daughter is dating is that guy. To be honest, my dad might feel it worse cause of guilt."

"Why guilt?"

"That he did Mom wrong. But it was more they let their hormones run away from them, and though they separated, he still did his part in raising me. That's always the biggest worry when I guy does you wrong, that he leaves you holding the baby and won't even cough up child support. Like Olly's dad."

"It is sad that people don't want to know their children. There's people who have their children stolen." Brah said sadly and I put my arm around him. "What if there is my mother out there?"

"Would you like to meet her?" I asked.

"I don't know. Would she want me?"

"I really don't know. It depends what she's been through. She might want to just to find her family." I reasoned.

"I think I will say that if they find her and she wants to meet me then I will be willing to meet her, but if they find her and she doesn't want to meet me then I don't want to know."

"I guess that's for the best. I wouldn't want to know if my mother didn't want to know me either." I said as I hugged him closer into my side.

"In that case all I'd want to know is that my mother is a dhampir and nothing else."

"Ok." I said and rubbed his back.

"It won't matter because I got family here. And you're my family too."

"Yeah. Well when we're older and get married we'll be family." I said, feeling myself blush.

"When can we do that?" He asked, like marriage was something you can just do on a whim.

"Well I got two years left before I graduate so definitely not before then." I said with a laugh.

"I got learning to do too." Brah said seriously with a nod, then he laughed.

"Well you have got to learn to make it in the world. What if you want to be a doctor or something? You need school then." I said.

"Do you want to be a doctor?"

"No." I shook my head.

"What do you want to be?"

"I got no choice. I'm a wolf so I'm a protector. We don't get the luxury of choosing our career. It chooses us. Whether it means protecting the Res or protecting other places, that instinct won't leave and we need the pack. Especially if we're going to run forever. You're a dhampir so I will always phase so I can stay young with you."

"You could still do something. Is there the police? They protect people?"

"Yeah. But that line of work takes up a lot of your time and it's risky. What if I phase when bringing down a perp? It could happen getting lost in the aggression like that. No, if I wanted to do something other it would have to be something calming, like a yoga instructor or something."

"What's that?"

"It's a type of stretching exercise. I think. I've never actually looked into it. No. I'll end up with some low pay job to cover rent and end up spending the rest of my time running. It's the way of the wolf."

"If you wasn't a wolf what would you choose?" He asked.

I thought for a moment then shrugged.

"When I was a little I wanted to be a vet." I said, it was the one thing I could remember wanting, not long after I found out Dad really could turn into a wolf and the stories of the protectors were real.

"What is that?"

"A doctor for animals."

"Then why not? Is it too late for you to train to that?" He asked.

"College costs an arm and a leg and a veterinary is an urgent requirement on the Res so the Elders wouldn't be willing to subsidise my college for the pay off later." I explained the quickest way without going into detail on Res politics.

"Are there animals on the Res?" Brah asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't they need a doctor?"

I shrugged.

"Why don't you ask?" He asked, and I felt sad knowing I would never have the guts to do that.

"It doesn't matter." I said with a sigh before clinging to my excuse. "I'm not that good at biology anyway and since my pack is here now I wouldn't really be using my skills on the Res. I'll just stick with my original plan."

Brah was silent for a moment as he ran his fingers through the ends of my hair.

"I think you are a good protector and that is the thing that matters. You make the world better as you are." He stated.

"Thanks." I said, feeling warmed by his words. "And you make the world better just as you are."

"No. I have the learning to do." He joked as he pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head.

"We are still young." I said.

"And we have all the time." Brah said as he placed his hand gently to my cheek and turned me to face him as he turned his head to me.

"Yeah." I agreed as I looked into his eyes, feeling a little mesmerised.

"All of the time." He whispered as he pressed his lips to mine.

I felt myself melt against him, falling into the kiss. I felt all those electric tingles shoot through my body again, just like they'd done down in Wyoming. Where I was kissing a guy I'd just met and not really caring. The only reason I wasn't taking it further because we'd only just met, but my body had wanted him badly. Now I felt myself freeze and pull away. Back in Wyoming I didn't know he was only eight.

"I'm sorry." I murmured as I turned to face the water. "I just remembered your age."

Brah sighed and I felt him slide his hand into mine.

"I am an adult." He said.

"Please! You thought you got Isla pregnant when she kicked you in the balls!" I snorted.

"Is that what she really said?" Brah asked doubtfully.

"Yeah." I said firmly, before grudgingly admitting, "but she told us it was because you wanted to keep her safe. You knew that wasn't the case, but it would give a few days before she had to bite the bullet."

"That is the case." Brah said with a nod.

"Which I guess is an adult thing to do." I conceded. "You also took a beating for her."

Brah nodded.

"And it was bad." I said, wincing as I saw his swollen eye and split lip through the eye of Isla's memory when she'd shared it on the pack mind. "It didn't affect me so much then other than feeling a little sympathy for you, but now I feel sick." I added, reaching up to place my hand to his face. There wasn't a mark on him now, but I stroked around his eye socket gently as if to sooth it.

"What do you mean?" Brah asked.

"Isla didn't tell us verbally. She told us when we were wolves and so she showed us. It was awful. So awful that she kissed that vamp to get him to leave you alone."

"Jules." Brah growled.

"Yeah."

"He liked to hurt us." Brah said sadly. "They weren't supposed to unless we broke rules, but Jules would find reasons that we broke rules."

"I wish your childhood had been different." I said softly as I hugged him.

"If it had then I wouldn't know you now." He said as he hugged me back. "I wouldn't be me."

I couldn't reply to that so I just tapped his back.

"My life is now and not before. When I was on the farm I wasn't alive, but now I am." He said solemnly.

"I guess that's one way to look at it." I conceded before pulling away from him. "Shall we head back now. Stroll back slowly and take in the scenery?"

"Sounds good to me." Brah said.

I got my feet up out of the stream then stood up. My feet were wet and I had nothing to dry them with. Well it wouldn't be the first time I walked bare foot in the woods.

"How do I dry my feet?" Brah asked as he looked down at his own feet where water pooled around them.

"Put your shoes in your bag, it's not so bad without them." I said.

"Are you sure?"

"When we go out running we don't bother with shoes. Just put yours in the bag with mine and I'll carry them." I said.

"I will put my shoes in the bag, but I will carry it." He said.

"My boots are heavy." I protested.

"I'll be ok." Brah said. "It will be like carrying your books home from school."

I gave him a doubtful look.

"I watched a movie and that is what they did." He said with a nod.

"Ok. If you're sure." I said with a shrug, figuring that he must have watched something real old fashioned.

"I am." Brah said as he put his shoes into the bag, did it up and swung it up onto his back.

"Let's go." I said and took his hand before we started heading back the way we came.

* * *

 **Zeke**

I lay on the little bed in my art hut cradling Mags against me in the afterglow as she played her fingers in my hair. It was getting long, I'd meant to cut it before she got here, but I didn't find the time between teaching and making sure Brah was getting on ok to do it.

"I don't mind. I kinda like it this length." Mags said languidly, reading it from my mind.

"You do?"

"Yeah. I like playing with it." She murmured.

"I guess I'll have to keep it this long." I observed.

"Yeah." Mags said, then sat up and looked down into my eyes.

I moved my hand a little on her hip and followed the line of her hipbone with my thumb. She smiled at me as she stroked my left cheek, the one that for a while had borne scars a vampire had left there. Even though the scars were gone I still leant into Mags' hand finding the comfort it had brought me when it seemed like I constantly felt the scars.

She leant forward to kiss me and I sat up to meet her lips. I pulled her across my lap and she wrapped her one arm around me as her other fingers tangled in my hair. With a little shifting we were making love again, and it was as good as ever. Mags was the one meant for me and I was the one meant for her. I felt it all the time, but more so when we became one, working together toward a breathless crescendo.

Breathless and tingling we broke apart, but just enough to sit with our backs against the wall. Mags entwined her fingers with mine and pushed her clinging hair back out of her face.

"I've missed you." She said, gently moving her fingers up and down my arm. I felt the slight unevenness of the movement as she stroked over the parts of my arms where chunks of flesh had been gouged out. That was something even dhampir couldn't heal from.

"Not more than I've missed you." I teased.

Mags laughed.

"We've missed each other about the same much." She said. "And not just the hot sex, I've missed just seeing you everyday."

"I know what you mean. Even face chat isn't the same because you're not actually here." I said sadly.

"I might start spending more time here if I can. I need to find work and somewhere for my girls and me to live. If it was just me I'd move to Tregarran yesterday until I found my own place, but I can't leave my girls behind."

"I know." I said, and turned my head to kiss her. "You wanna get dressed and talk?"

Mags nodded her head, but pouted a little.

"I wish I could shower first."

"You can." I said with a shrug.

"Without going back to the Heights?"

"When your grandparents used to use this place as a gym they obviously wanted to freshen up before they went home." I said as I got to my feet and picked up my clothes.

"I guess." Mags said as she got up and grabbed her own clothes.

"You wanna see if the key works?" I asked as I pulled the picture aside that hid the fingerprint pad.

"Good a time as any." She replied and bunched her clothes into her left hand so she could reach out her right hand to put her index finger against the pad.

There was the bleep and whirr and I felt relieved that it actually worked. All the equipment was old stuff that was being trashed down in HQ, so Masen and Layla did a rebuild for me. So I got it all for free, but it did mean that it had the habit of being a little buggy when I hadn't booted it up in a while.

"I got access to your place. You're not gonna get rid of me now." She teased.

"You promise?" I asked, as I put my hand in the small of her back to pull her close for a kiss.

I felt her grin against my lips before she twirled out of my arm, but took my hand to step into the gym.

"Forever and always." She said as she led me into the gym. "So where are these showers?"

"This way." I said, taking the lead and pulling her over to the far side of the gym where there was a partitioned tiled area that held two showerheads and the door to the little closet that held the toilet.

"I've only got standard soap here. I wasn't sure what products you prefer, but maybe we can go into Olympic Pines tomorrow and I'll buy you whatever you prefer." I offered.

"Soap's ok." Mags said with a shrug. "It's not like I'll be washing my hair here or anything, and you can't get any cleaner scent than soap."

"Yeah." I agreed, because some body washes tended to smell chemical to our sensitive dhampir noses.

"Where do we put these?" Mags asked about her clothes.

"In these lockers." I said, opening one and pointing to the other. "There's towels in here too. And they're clean. I brought them up yesterday."

"You thought of everything." Mags said as she put her clothes into the locker then turned a smile on me.

I shrugged feeling warmed by her compliment.

"Come on." She said, and took my hand and led me into the splash area.

She turned on both the showers and stood under the one that was furthest along. I got under the other and let the water wash over me. I closed my eyes and remembered back to only a few weeks ago. It was in a shower, under different circumstances, that I finally got the truth from Mags. That the attraction I'd been feeling toward her since she rescued me from the League was all down to imprinting.

Now a few weeks on we knew for certain we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. Once we got our lives together. I was retraining after over a decade of working for Jane, and Mags was just about moving out of her parents' house for the first time. Yeah she was doing a sorority thing with her pack first, but I'm sure that once they're settled we can work on a place for us.

"Enjoying the shower?" Mags whispered in my ear.

I opened my eyes to find her right next to me, looking into my eyes with her big brown ones.

"It's ok, but I was remembering a better shower."

"Well maybe next time." Mags said, and kissed my cheek. "I'm gonna get dressed."

"Ok." I said as she moved away.

I quickly washed myself then went to wipe and dress myself.

Mags was in a t-shirt instead of her usual strappy top and her shorts were longer than usual she still looked super sexy.

"You think so?" Mags asked, like she hadn't just read it from my mind.

"Well not so much think, it's an objective fact." I said as I wrapped my arms around her again to kiss her.

"You take a poll?" Mags teased.

"Yep."

Mags chuckled and kissed me before pulling me back to the cabin area.

"Come on." She said. "You got new art work I need to see."

"Not that much." I said as I let her lead me anyway.

"I still want to see." She said, skirting close to how she used to sound when we were kids, her a little younger than me, and thinking everything I did was awesome.

"Ok." I agreed, just like when we were kids and I wanted her to be happy because she was a good kid and one of my earliest friends.

"I love your artwork, I can't help my enthusiasm." She said as we stepped into the cabin.

"You're reading my mind more than usual." I observed.

"I'm trying not to, but all this connecting again is drawing me in." She said, blushing a little.

"I don't mind." I said with a shrug. "But I'd rather know." _Since it means I can be lazy and not use my mouth._

 _But you're so skilled with your mouth._ Mags replied, giving me a leer to show it was a double entendre.

I laughed as I pressed the button to close the hidden door, then put my hands on her waist to guide her to sit on the bed. I grabbed my file down from the shelf and placed it next to her.

"Take a look." I said before taking a seat in my working chair.

Mags started looking through my work and as she did I felt my hands itch the way they did when they wanted to draw. I reached out for my sketchpad and a length of charcoal before I began drawing on the thick paper. Mags was looking intently through my artwork and I managed to capture it on the blank page in front of me.

I'd just got to the curve of her breast behind her hands when Mags looked up at me and frowned.

"What are you doing?" She asked, and I wasn't sure whether she really hadn't read my mind about it, or she was being curious, but either way I held up my sketchpad and turned it so she could see what I'd been drawing.

"You just drew that?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Wow." She said as she took the one step from the bed to my chair and sat in my lap so we could both look at it.

Now we were both adults she was as tall as me so she had to scootch down so I could see over her shoulder. I put my feet up on the bed to give her a more comfortable place to recline.

"How do you do it so accurately so quickly?" She asked with awe, hovering her fingers above the sketch, but stopping short of smudging the image.

"Practice." I said with a shrug.

"And talent." She said as she closed my sketchbook and started looking through it from the first page.

"It's a start, but you still need to practice."

"Yeah. I do." Mags said a little absentmindedly.

"I wasn't hinting." I said, feeling worried I'd implied that.

"I know. I'm just saying it myself. It's been a while since I got back to basics, and I really should practice some because from everything I've seen here I was clearly a hindrance when painting our mural down in Wyoming."

"No you weren't." I assured her.

"I know I was." She said. "There's no need to sugar coat it. Like I said, I want to practice so the next piece we do together is epic instead of just good."

"But sketching and murals are different disciplines, especially if we're going to paint straight onto a wall."

"Yeah, cause these were just ok." She said as she grabbed her phone from the nearest workbench and pressed the button to show her rest screen, which was a photo she'd taken of the anime us I'd painted on the wall of the kitchen in my old house in Wyoming.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with your contribution to our mural. We weren't painting anything in particular, just something bright, light and friendly to take my mind away from the hell prison Ritchie had implanted. Maybe if we had a subject to work towards it would be different."

Mags shrugged as she played about with her phone.

"You know what I thought was good?" I asked as I grabbed my own phone, but I had to go into my photos for this one, not because I didn't think it deserved start screen position, but the photo I had of Mags grinning at me was way too cute not to use. "This."

Mags glanced at my screen then snorted.

"Dhampir Defender? I thought you said he sounded kinda lame." She said dismissively.

"I was talking about his name, not your artwork. I thought it was good and probably would have complimented you on it more if I wasn't still in that cloud of embarrassed shame about my scars."

"Ok." Mags said frowning. "But when did you get a chance to take these pictures? I was always with you when you were in my room."

"I may have smuggled the entire comic sheet out of your room and now have it stored away safely with our mural." I admitted, though I tried to sound nonchalant about it.

"You did?" she asked disbelieving.

"Yep." I confirmed.

"Why?" she asked, looking confused.

"Because I like it and I thought you might leave it behind. I do plan to frame it and hang it up. I was thinking of mounting the mural too and putting it up in the gym. I was thinking that now you're here, well mostly here, we can work together to redecorate the gym. Make it our space. We can use it to practice sparring if you like and I was also thinking about that one time my bedroom furniture didn't survive the night."

Mags shifted a little and hummed with satisfaction.

"I guess that will take some room." She mused.

Before I could respond my phone rung. I frowned when I saw it was Brah ringing me. I answered.

"What's up brother?" I asked.

"This is embarrassing. Amber and me are a little lost." He said without beating about the bush.

"Where are you?"

"Out in the woods. We run out and now can't find our way back. I don't want to phone Mom and Dad in case they won't let us come out again. Can you and Mags come and show us the way back?" He asked.

"Yeah. Sure." I said, feeling glad we were showered and dressed. "We'll come track you now. Where did you enter the woods?"

"Back at the Heights in the back yard."

"Ok. We'll track you from there. Hopefully no one will see us." I said, since then I'd have to tell Mom and Dad why Mags and me were over there.

"Ok." Brah said, and hung up, he hadn't quite got used to phone etiquette yet, where you were supposed to say bye before you hung up.

I made sure the call ended before I closed the cover on my phone. I moved a little and Mags stood, and I did too.

"Guess we got a treck on our hands." She said as she slipped her phone into her pocket. "But we don't need to go back to the Heights. Give me a moment and I'll get a hold on Amber's mind. I always know where my girls are."

"Sure." I said as we headed for the door.

We stepped outside and I made sure the door was closed and that the trailing ivy covered it so you couldn't see it in the banking. In the meantime Magda closed her eyes and concentrated.

"Got her." Mags said with a nod as she opened her eyes.

She grabbed my hand and we started running. I wasn't sure where we were going but I trusted Mags to lead us in the right direction.

* * *

 **Brah**

I put my phone back in my pocket and looked at Amber.

"I'm sorry I can't find the way back." I said.

"Me too." Amber said, looking down at her feet and her hair fell in her face. "I should have turned back into a wolf and followed our scent trail back out."

I looked at her a moment and I felt bad because she was sad.

"It is both our faults." I said as I put my arms around her and pulled her into my chest.

She sniffed a little as she put her own arms around me.

"I'm a wolf. I should know my way around. If the girls find out I got lost I'll never live it down. They already treat me like a baby because I'm the youngest." She muttered into my shoulder.

"They will not find out." I said as I stroked her head.

"They might now Mags knows."

"Is she likely to tell on you?" I asked softly.

"No." Amber admitted.

"Then what have you to fear?"

"That I am just the baby of the group and always will be." She whimpered.

"I thought you were an adult." I stated.

"I'm sixteen, I'm not fully grown yet." She said.

"I thought you are cause you're a wolf." I said and frowned, it was something I was told.

"Ok. I'm fully-grown. But I'm not grown up. I still have to finish school. All the others have graduated. I'm not an adult." She sobbed.

"Ok." I said, feeling confused because she said she was an adult earlier and I was too young for her.

"I'm sorry. I just feel annoyed a lot of the time, especially when I'm reminded how young I really am." Amber said, as she sniffed and stepped away from me, wiping her face with the bottom of her t-shirt and it went up high enough to show the bottom of her breasts. Given Amber's current mood I thought it was better not to upset her anymore.

"We both must grow up." I said. "I've only just started school."

"Yeah, but you're learning quickly. Do you know how long it usually takes to get the hang of writing letters, never mind spelling? You'll be caught up with me before we know it and maybe we could graduate together." Amber said, brightening greatly by the end and beaming at me.

"Then I will be a man?" I asked.

"Yep. And I will be a woman and I guess we can consider ourselves the same age then. If you're an adult with an adult job then I can't call you a kid." She said pursing her lips deliciously as she thought.

"Yes." I agreed, resisting the urge to kiss her.

"This is the only problem imprinting on a dhampir. Take Rupert for instance, he imprinted on Seren when she was five. They're only now moving onto adult things now she's thirteen. And that's only because she's starting premed this year so you can hardly call her a kid anymore."

"What is premed?"

"She's training to be a doctor so she's at the part of the course now where they're going into hospitals to assist but they won't be allowed to actually treat patients on their own. I mean like prescribing stuff."

"If Seren can be a doctor why can't you be a vet?" I asked.

"The Res needs doctors, and her parents are paying her way through college anyway. And like I said, I'm not so good at biology."

"I am learning everything, maybe you can learn biology. There's lessons at the Heights." I pointed out.

"If I come here I'll probably have to go to Olympic High." She said sadly.

"Why? You could come to school with me."

"Or, if you learn quick enough, you could come to school with me and then we could date and go to all the school dances." Amber suggested.

I considered this a moment.

"I will make sure I learn enough." I said with a nod. "And I will ask Mom and Dad if I can go to Olympic High. It will be good."

"It will." Amber agreed.

I heard footsteps approach and I quickly pushed Amber behind me as I turned to face the threat.

"It's ok. It's just Mags and Zeke." Amber said gently as she tapped my shoulder and I realised I was in a crouch.

I relaxed and looked at her, it was my turn to feel embarrassed.

"You were just trying to protect me." She said, tapping my shoulder again.

"I was overreacting."

"Yeah, but given where you've come from, and only recently, you can be forgiven for being jumpy." She said softly as she rubbed my back and I buried my face in her shoulder. "Now don't you go biting me."

I jumped away from her, and felt appalled.

"I would never…no." I said, shaking my head. "I would never bite you."

"I know. I was joking. Sides, you vamps don't like our wolf blood." She said with a shrug.

"We don't?"

"Nope. Which is a good thing, because your venom is poisonous to us." She said seriously.

"It is?" I asked and Amber nodded.

"Here you are." Zeke said as he emerged from the nearest trees with his lady, Magda.

"I told you I had a lock on Amber." Mags replied. "You ok Amb?"

"Other than slightly embarrassed?" Amber asked.

"You'll get used to these woods." Mags said, giving her a friendly tap on the shoulder.

"What time have you got to be back home?" Zeke asked me.

"Nine." I replied.

Zeke and Mags looked at each other for a moment.

"You wanna come to Tregarran and we'll get home before nine. But we can hang out away from the others." Zeke offered.

"And Gramps is making food for the four of us." Mags said. "I was waiting till about seven to mention it then go track Amber and Brah." She added to Zeke.

"All the more reason to go to Tregarran." He said with a shrug.

I didn't mind the others things, but I'd spend more time with Amber?

"Try and stop me." I said and Amber giggled.

"Come on. These are my woods." Mags said as she took Zeke's hand. "I'll lead you back to Tregarran."

"Great." Amber said as she took my hand and we followed Mags and Zeke to Tregarran.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Reviews are always welcome**

 **Gemma x**


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